Phoenix
by Waterflash
Summary: Hmmm... Sam has an abusive father and tries desperately to get rid of him. What will she learn about herself as she finally reveals her life of lies to her friends? Dumb summaries. Rated T ‘cause I don’t know how to properly rate it.
1. Chapter 1: iHave a Secret

**Wheeee! My firstish iCarly fanfiction! Yay for me. Anywhoo, I've seen the idea of Sam having an abusive father before and I really liked it. I hope those who've already written about that don't get too mad. I only copied you 'cause I luffled your story. **

**Also, this story will lean on being a 'Seddie' fanfiction. I haven't decided on if it'll be an all-out one or not...**

**I wasn't entirely sure on the whole last name thing so I just used what other writers have used. **

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of this. Not even Cousin Andrew and Bill Puckett. I think. Right. I own nothing. Not really. I have a room and clothes and a notebook. So I do own stuff. But nothing that is in this story. Except for the fact that I wrote it. But I didn't use my own characters. Yeah.**

He'd never hit me before. Normally he called me ugly and words that I don't know the meaning of. Normally he only hit my mother. I suppose that because he'd been fired from his job he was extremely angry. I should have expected it to happen sooner or later but his blow came as a complete shock to me.

* * *

Samantha Puckett was not one whom you'd expect to have any of the feelings that other girls had. She had a hardened reputation; she was a force to be feared, the strongest girl in all of her classes, possibly the strongest girl in the school. But at home she was different. So different, she could have been mistaken for someone else if one could not see her.

Her father was to blame. Everyday he would come home and yell profanities at her and her mother. He'd even strike her mother now and then. Sometimes his blows were so forceful that she was knocked unconscious for hours. These hours seemed like eons to Sam, who was forced to do numerous things for her father and be emotionally battered by his insults. It had come to the point where she believed what he said about her. She now was deeply troubled with the possibilities that she was as ugly and stupid as he told her.

Sam, a girl known by her friends to fear nothing and no one, was hopelessly afraid of the burly man and his cruelty. When she was not at school or at her best friend Carly's apartment, she frequented her small bedroom. There she would listen to her father's yells and dread the moment he decided that she needed to suffer a portion of the verbal assault.

It was on a stormy Sunday evening when her father finally crossed the line.

* * *

The front door slammed with a bang that seemed to shake the entire house. Sam, who had been drying her hands in the bathroom, let out a small yelp and raced down the hall into her room. She closed the door behind her and sank into a sitting position in front of it, leaning against her bed. She listened.

Bang!

"What's wrong, Bill?"

Her mother's voice could barely be heard over the numerous crashing noises that filled the house. Her father was no doubt in a rage and throwing whatever he could at the poor woman.

Sam winced as she heard the familiar slap and crash. Her mother was no doubt incapacitated by a good blow. Already she could hear her father walking down the hall toward her room, getting faster every second. After taking a moment to think, she sprang up and made to hold the door closed. But it was too late. The door opened in a flash, knocking her arms painfully away.

"Trying to hide?" exclaimed the disturbed man, clenching his fists and punching Sam right in the stomach without hesitation.

The blonde girl's eyes opened with shock and she slumped backward onto her bed with a look of utter horror etched upon her face. Her mouth opened as if to answer but she couldn't say a thing.

"Answer me!" Mr. Puckett went in for another punch, this time his fist connected with her mouth.

Sam could almost instantly taste her blood that now threatened to fill her mouth, trying to choke her. There was only one way to get out of this. She suddenly moaned and fell backward, her eyes closed and her mouth wide open to let out the blood.

* * *

Hours passed before the bleeding stopped completely and the pain in her mouth had subsided slightly. Sam's stomach still throbbed; it felt bad enough that she felt as if she would vomit. But it seemed that her body was in too much pain to let her. She sat up slowly and got under the blankets, hoping desperately that she wouldn't hurt anymore in the morning.

Her mind had been set on escaping. Tomorrow she would go to school and then retreat to Carly's house. There she would call the police. And it would be over.

**Rate it, will ya? I'm writing the next chapter already. I have numerous plans... Muahaha.**


	2. Chapter 2: iWant Out

* * *

Sam slept in that night and had to rush to get on the bus (A/N: Does she ride a bus to school?) in time. Her lower lip was badly swollen; only a completely blind person wouldn't notice it. But she had an excuse: she'd tell anyone who bothered to ask that she had simply tripped and hit her chin on the counter, resulting in a nasty cut caused by her front teeth.

Carly was the first to say anything about it. The dark-haired girl walked worriedly up to her best friend after taking a sip from the nearby drinking fountain.

"Andrew get ya?"

Sam smiled slyly. Cousin Andrew had been the on she'd blamed for any time that she got hurt. Cousin Andrew didn't exist.

"'Course not. I taught Andrew his lesson a while ago. I just slipped."

There was a nervous tone to Sam's voice and Carly knew it. But she pushed the fact away. Sam would tell her later.

"Tough luck, hmmm?"

"Yeah..."

Sam closed her locker abruptly, rattling the other ones. She turned away in a whirl of dirty blonde hair and left Carly behind. Her friend would know the truth. Eventually. Secrets couldn't be kept forever.

* * *

Sam's naturally fierce personality was beginning to wake up. All throughout the day, people had relentlessly stared at her puffy lip. People never seemed to look at her. They looked at Carly though. Especially the boys. She guessed that you had to be extremely ugly or extremely pretty to get noticed. That meant that, maybe, she wasn't horribly ugly... But her father, though horribly deranged, rarely lied. She _was _an ugly girl. Well.

She was walking down the hall with Carly and Freddie, thinking about her predicament and insulting Freddie now and then, when she felt someone's shoulder against hers. And, almost instantly, her foot shot out. She successfully tripped the black-haired boy, only to have him glare angrily up at her.

"What's your problem, fat-lip?" snapped the boy as he got to his feet. The vicious look that he received signaled a warning to his mind and he quickly dashed away.

Sam grit her teeth and darted after the unfortunate boy. But right as she lunged, she was restrained by a horrible pain in her stomach. Panicking and taken completely by surprise, she surged forward in an attempt to be rid of whoever had their arms around her. That only made the unbearable pain worse, far worse. She stopped struggling and closed her eyes, determined not to cry. She was too strong to cry. She couldn't. No matter what.

Freddie was shocked when Sam stopped struggling. Normally she would have turned on him and battered him with insults and punches. It seemed that she was light as a feather when he turned her over in his arms until she faced him. She was leaning painfully against his arms.

Suddenly, the injured teenager realized that there was no longer any pressure being applied to her bruise and Freddie was lost in confusion as she tackled him, only opening her eyes for a moment before shutting them once more. What if someone saw the tears that clouded her vision?

Freddie saw it. But he let himself confirm that Sam's teary eyes had been imagined. Samantha Puckett didn't cry. Her eyes were as dry as her stony heart. And as Freddie though that, a new fire lit up his eyes. It was high time that Sam learned that she wasn't the strongest person in the world. He didn't even cringe as the crazed girl attacked. Instead, he gave Sam a shove in the stomach that she'd never forget.

Sam quailed and put her hand over her mouth for a moment. She was frozen in agony for a moment before she seemed to calm down slightly. Suddenly, her arm shot out and she grabbed Carly's shoulder and she dragged her confused friend into the ladies' bathroom.

"What's wrong, Sam? I've never seen you like this."

Carly frowned worriedly as her friend gave her a glare that clearly said 'Be quiet.'

"Carly, it's my dad. He's crazy."

Snorting softly, Carly interrupted, "C'mon, Sam. Everyone says that about their parents."

She didn't. Her dad was away, far away. And Carly was beginning to doubt that he would ever come back.

Sam shook her head and pointed to her lip. Then she lifted up her shirt to reveal a nasty, dark purple bruise. As Carly stared, Sam continued.

"He really is crazy. Everyday he comes home angry and hits my mom. Sometimes he hits her so hard that he k-knocks her out and then he c-calls me horrible names. But j-just yesterday he was really mad. He hit me so hard..."

If Sam had planned on continuing, all hope was lost, drowned in sobs. Neither Sam nor Carly had ever known that Sam would ever act as she was now acting. Tears streamed down her reddened face and she had Carly's arm in a death grip.

Carly was baffled. So many years had passed and never had she expected this. Her best friend, Sam the tough tomboy, had been beaten by her own father. How horrible! Her thoughts were interrupted when Sam spoke again.

"When you go home, I'm going with you. I'll call the police... And Spencer always has my favorite brand of pudding."

Carly sighed inwardly. The old Sam was still there, hidden by the tears. She shook her head sadly, half of her still refusing to believe her friend.

* * *

Freddie was listening in horror to Carly as she, he, and Sam made their way down the hall once again. His friends were telling him about the breakdown in the restroom (Carly was doing the talking while Sam stared at the ground glumly and nodded occasionally).

"They won't need much evidence-"

Freddie's comment was cut off by a yelp on Sam's part. He stared at her for a moment as new emotions took over. He couldn't stand to see her this was. He felt a strong urge to protect her. Following Sam's gaze, he spotted an old Cadillac. Out came its driver, the muscular man who was Bill Puckett.

"Samantha! Get in the car!" Bill noticed the worried glances that Freddie and Carly shot Sam and clenched his fists in anger. She'd told them.

Carly and Freddie forgotten, Sam trudged warily to the car. Her eyes were clouded with tears. But she felt a new strength inside her. It was almost over.

* * *

"You're in for it."

"Whatever. I'm not afraid of you."

Mr. Puckett slammed his foot on the brake, nearly driving through a red light. He turned around and suddenly grabbed a handful of Sam's hair. She'd unlocked the door and taken off her seatbelt.

The cruel man hadn't expected retaliation. Usually, Sam's hair was her weakest spot. She spun around and her fist connected with his mouth. She was amazed by her own strength and, instantly, his grip loosened. She opened the door and jumped out before sprinting across the street, destined for Carly's apartment building.

**There's Chapter 2! I really have no idea where I'll end up with this but I've decided that the story will be a Seddie fanfiction. I foresee a dance in the future. -nods- But first... What happens to Sam and her dad? Dundundun.**


	3. Note

Note: A lot of sad, dreary things have been happening in my real life

Note: A lot of sad, dreary things have been happening in my real life... SIGH. Please don't get mad but you shouldn't expect the next chapter to come in a while... I PROMISE you that I won't just forget about it.


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